Chiapas Cochito Adobo Paste

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy dry skillet
• •Molcajete or spice grinder for achiote and spices
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Clean glass jar with tight lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the chiles

   Wipe the chile ancho and chile guajillo with a barely damp cloth. Pull off the stems, shake out the seeds, and tear the chiles open so they lie flat. Do this over a bowl, not over the sink. Good chile seeds tell you whether the chile is fresh or tired. If the chile smells dusty and dead, the recado will taste dusty and dead.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the ancho first, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until the skin softens, darkens slightly, and smells like dried fruit and tobacco. Toast the guajillo separately, about 15 to 20 seconds per side. Guajillo is thinner and burns faster. Burned chile turns bitter, and no amount of vinegar will rescue it.

   Press each chile flat with a spatula for even contact with the comal. If a patch turns black, tear that part off or start again. No me vengas con atajos.
3. 3

   Soften the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soak for 15 minutes, until the flesh bends easily and the water turns reddish brown. Save 1/4 cup of the soaking water. Taste it first. If it is bitter, use clean hot water instead. A careful cook checks before blending.

4. 4

   Toast the spices

   On the same comal, toast the pimienta gorda, cloves, black peppercorns, and canela for 30 to 45 seconds, moving them constantly. You want fragrance, not smoke. Add the dried oregano and thyme for the last 5 seconds, then pull everything off the heat. Herbs burn if you look away. My mother wrote that in her notebook, and she was right.

5. 5

   Grind the achiote

   If using achiote seeds, grind them first in a molcajete or spice grinder until sandy and red. Achiote seeds are hard. Do not throw them whole into a weak blender and expect them to disappear. If using pure achiote paste, crumble it into the blender with the vinegar. This is color and earthiness, not the whole identity of the recado.

6. 6

   Blend the recado

   Drain the chiles and place them in a blender with the ground spices, achiote, garlic, onion, vinegar, salt, and 1/4 cup chile soaking water. Blend until thick and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides. The paste should be brick-red and heavy, not watery. Add more soaking water one tablespoon at a time only if the blades refuse to move.

7. 7

   Strain if needed

   For a very smooth paste, push the recado through a fine-mesh strainer with a spoon. In many home kitchens in Chiapas, especially when the paste is ground well in a molcajete, it stays a little textured. Both are acceptable. What is not acceptable is a paste full of chile skins because you rushed the blender.

8. 8

   Use or store

   Use the recado immediately, or pack it into a clean jar and cover the surface with a thin slick of melted manteca de cerdo if you will use it within three days. For cochito, rub the paste deeply into 4 to 5 pounds of pork, then rub the melted manteca over the outside before it rests overnight. The lard helps the adobo cling and gives the roasted edges their shine. La manteca es el sabor.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chiles that are flexible and glossy, not brittle. Chile ancho should smell like raisins and sun-dried fruit. Chile guajillo should smell sharp and clean, with a red skin that still shines. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •This is not Yucatecan recado rojo. Do not replace the ancho and guajillo with a block of commercial achiote paste and call it Chiapas cochito. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Cane vinegar is common in southern kitchens and gives the paste the right bite. Apple cider vinegar works outside Mexico. White distilled vinegar is harsher, use it only if that is what you have, and know what you are giving up.
• •The paste is for pork with fat: shoulder, ribs, leg, or a mixed cut for cochito. Lean tenderloin is the wrong meat. It dries before the recado has time to become part of the roast.
• •If you see recipes adding tomato, leave them alone. Cochito adobo is chile, achiote, vinegar, aromatics, herbs, and spice. Tomato pulls it toward another sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The recado can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in a clean jar with a thin layer of melted manteca de cerdo over the surface.
• •For cochito, rub the pork with the paste at least 12 hours ahead. Twenty-four hours is better. The vinegar and chile need time to settle into the meat.
• •The paste can be frozen for up to 2 months in small portions. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and stir well before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 32g)